Awake
by a Percy Jackson fan
Summary: Even though Leo's tired and Piper just won't let him go to sleep, he's never been more awake as to how he really feels. Liper one-shot, written pre-MOA. Au-ish.


**I honestly have no idea why I wrote this, but…here it is. Just a little oneshot I found already written on my laptop. Hope you enjoy it. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Heroes of Olympus series. All rights go to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"Leo?" came a voice in the darkness.

Leo groaned and opened his eyes. It was still dark outside, but Leo didn't find that surprising. It wasn't like he could just open his eyes and it would be morning (as much as he hoped it would be).

_"What?!" _he spat at the owner of the voice. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was three in the morning; this was the third time she had woken him up (the first time was to get her some water; the second time was to get her more). He was getting annoyed with her laziness.

Piper went silent for a moment.

Leo didn't feel like turning over and seeing what was wrong. He was tired; he didn't feel like getting up and filling Piper's glass full of water again. He cared for her – he _really _did – but if she wanted his moral support, she needed to do things for herself.

"Can I have some milk?"

Leo groaned.

Piper was getting pretty unpredictable ever since Jason had chosen Reyna and stayed at Camp Jupiter, and Leo wasn't sure what to do for her anymore. One minute she was crying, the next, she was angry, and the third, she wanted to _die._

"No, Piper. You cannot have some milk."

Leo felt the bed move as Piper sat up.

"Why not?" she whined. Leo turned over to look at her.

Piper looked a mess. Her hair was matted on one side; her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying and lack of sleep. Despite the fact that some drool was making it's way down the side of Piper's cheek, she _still _looked beautiful. Leo found it hard to be annoyed at her.

He sighed. "Piper, you can't just keep asking me to do things for you. Last time I checked, you have two legs and two perfectly good arms. Get it yourself or don't get it at all."

Piper was silent as Leo turned back over and closed his eyes, trying to catch some Zs. He was pretty fed up with how angst-y Piper was being these days. She had made it past the crying stage, but he had to keep a constant eye on her (he had a suspicion she was looking for a way to _end the pain_), and she'd often mutter random things to herself, like "I want to DIE" or "Kill me now". Leo didn't exactly find those messages subtle.

Another odd thing about angst-y Piper: she took refuge in Leo's bed. Piper had sulked there for days; he got a lot of weird looks from his cabin mates when he unknowingly went to bed with Piper next to him last week. When had _she_ gotten there? After several attempts to move her, Leo gave in and let her stay. As long as she didn't bother him, it would be fine. She just needed some time to recover.

Leo thought about how wrong he was about letting Piper stay, and was drifting off to the steady "_tick, tock" _of the clock on the wall when Piper spoke.

"Do you miss him?"

Leo turned over to face Piper. They were face to face. Piper's eyes shone like moons gazing into his; she looked sad, and her eyes sparkled with tears. Something inside of Leo felt the urge to lean in and kiss her, but he held back. He wanted to get through the conversation first.

"Jason?" Leo asked in reply. Piper nodded solemnly.

Leo exhaled a breath.

"Yeah, mostly because he owes me twenty bucks and a soda."

Piper sniffled and rolled her eyes.

"I miss him too," Piper stated as she turned on her back to face the ceiling. She stared at the roof for a while before grumbling: "I bet he doesn't miss us."

Leo blinked, a little surprised at Piper's remark. _Of course_ Jason missed them; how could she say that? Jason had been an awesome friend to him, and, as far as he knew, an awesome boyfriend to Piper. Leo quickly jumped to Jason's defense.

"Hey, just because Jason chose to be with Reyna doesn't mean he doesn't care about us. You of all people should know that," he countered. Piper had a point, though – if Jason really cared about his friends, then why did he leave in the first place? Leo fought to push those thoughts to the back of his mind. He grasped for the belief that Jason was and always would be their friend, no matter what Piper thought.

Piper didn't reply, and Leo figured she was busy trying to avoid his logic.

Leo closed his eyes and once again tried to fall asleep, but Piper turned to look at him once again.

"You're right," she said, breaking the stillness. The bed shook, and Leo could tell that she was sitting up.

"But if he does care," she continued on, her tone accusing, "Then why doesn't he ever talk to us? When was the last time he IM-ed you?" Leo's eyes flew open at Piper's question.

Jason hadn't contacted either of them once in the last couple months. Leo had tried to call him last week, which was a pretty big deal seeing as how it was against the rules, but Jason wouldn't pick up his phone. Leo didn't try to send an Iris message, because he was low on drachmas and he owed Percy fifty. The only time he did manage to talk to Jason was late last month.

* * *

_"Jason, is that you?" said Leo. The mist settled down, and Mr. Tall, Blonde, and Handsome appeared. Jason was covered in sweat, and looked like he was in the middle of a fight. He swung his sword, parrying an arrow that should've pierced him in the chest. Leo could tell right away that he was in Camp Jupiter's amphitheatre._

_ "Jason!" Leo called again. Jason looked up, but as soon as he did, an arrow came flying at him and he ducked at the last minute. He glared in the direction the arrow had come from._

_ "Seriously?" he said to someone. _

_"Sorry!" said a male's voice. Leo couldn't see who it was. Jason rolled his eyes and looked back at Leo._

_"Hey, Leo," he said, looking not at all annoyed. "What's up?"_

_Leo didn't think that he'd make it this far, but he still went on, anyway._

_"PIPERGOINGCRAZYPLEASECOMEBACKJUSTTAKEHERBACKNOWPL EASE."_

_Jason blinked. "What?!"_

_"It's Pipes! She's nuts!" Leo whined, and Leo went on and on about how annoying, needy, and cute Piper was while Jason listened, eyebrows knit together in thought._

_"-And _that's _why you need to take her back," Leo finished with an exhale. Leo watched as Jason regarded him with a perplexed on his face._

_When Jason finally spoke, Leo was not prepared to hear what he had to say next._

_ "Leo," Jason said. "If you care about her so much, then why don't _you _date her?"_

_ And that's where Leo drew a blank._

* * *

"Leo, are you still awake?" Piper asked in the darkness. Aroused from his reverie, he sighed, not opening his eyes.

"Why _wouldn't_ I be?" Leo grumbled, annoyed. Piper sniffled next to him.

"I think I'm going to IM Jason tomorrow," she told him. Leo opened his eyes, surprised.

This was news. For the past few months, the only time Piper had contacted Jason was to cuss him out. It actually came to the point when Leo had to confiscate her phone and her drachmas. He still had them stuffed in his tool belt after all this time.

"What are you going to tell him?" Leo asked, looking at her. He hoped she wasn't going to put Jason on blast again.

Piper bit her lip, and her brow furrowed in concentration, a strand of her dark hair falling in her face. Leo thought it was cute as he waited for her answer.

"I'm going to say that I'm sorry," she told him after a moment of silence, "And that I want to try the whole 'friendship thing' again."

She went silent, and Leo inwardly rejoiced. At last, Piper was trying to make peace with Jason. Leo hoped she'd stop sulking. Maybe, if he was lucky, she'd go back to sleeping in her cabin, too. He'd have to stop by the Tyche Cabin to see about that.

Leo turned over, his back to her, and started to drift off to Dreamland.

All of a sudden, Leo felt her arms wrap around his chest, and he tensed. After realizing that it was only a hug, he relaxed, and continued to drift off.

He exhaled in bliss and enjoyed the silence before Piper spoke once more.

"Leo?" Piper whispered. She was close to him; her breath tickled his ear. He squirmed in her grasp, trying to get more comfortable. Leo was nearly asleep now, so this would probably be the last question he would be awake to answer. He craned his neck to hear what she had to say.

"Yeah?" he asked in reply.

Piper snuggled up closer to him and rested her chin on his shoulder, "Do you think Jason would like it if I visited camp?"

Even though Piper couldn't see it, Leo gave a small smile. He felt a yawn coming on.

"I think…" Leo began, but he cut himself off. He yawned, and stretched his arm little bit. "I think that Jason would like that very, very much."

He could feel Piper's chin move on his shoulder as she smiled. Leo smiled, too, and his eyes slid closed. He snuggled into his pillow, for once anticipating the demigod dreams he'd have.

Piper stirred next to him, and to Leo's surprise, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Leo's face went hot, and his eyes flew open.

"Leo?" she asked, her breath warm against the back of his neck. Leo didn't turn to look at her, but replied nervously into the darkness, "Yeah?"

To Leo's surprise, Piper grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn. In a flash she was over him, her dark hair falling down like a canopy. Then she leaned down and kissed a very startled and blissful Leo on the lips. He pulled her closer, and could feel her smile against his.

Piper pulled back, still smiling a rare smile much bigger than the ones she had made in the past two months.

"Thanks," she whispered, the little light in the room dancing off of her eyes. Moons, thought Leo. Her eyes were like moons that pulled him along with the tide.

It was nothing but counting sheep from there.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! :)**


End file.
